This first first book in the Brides of Bold series was a heartfelt and emotional timetravel historical fiction story. The characters were engaging and likable. It had mystery, intrigue, loss, love, family secrets, and so many more emotional issues and twists that kept me captivated. I really enjoyed this intriguing mystery. I highly recommend reading.

I have read a good few of Michelle’s books. I love the O’’Mara Series. I did no what to expect from this one. I loved the different timelines though I was a bit thrown by how the time slip happens. I loved the friendships between Sabrina and Flo and then Sabrina and Jane. Looking forward to getting stuck in to book 2.

I adore historical fiction and was excited at what this book could bring to the table and my current love for historical fiction. I did not expect the time travel to be written in the thought through and emotional way that it did. It gave all that it needed to the story and more. Whilst we didnt get closure on certain bits of the story like why Sabrina's mum did not travel back with Sabrina, those kind of cliffhangers give speculation to look forward to within the sequel. Whilst the processing between Sabrina heading back home in comparison to her time travelling adventures took time to get used to this was a solid read which I truly enjoyed and am looking forward to the follow up to this awesome read!

This was a beautiful historical fiction book set in dual timelines (the 1920's and 1980s), with a timeslip plot. We follow Sabrina as through her journey as a bridal dressmaker after having been trained by Evelyn.

When she finds romance and love with Adam, she understands that she is not going to be able to fully accept love until she goes on a path to heal from her past, namely her abandonment issues.

In the dressmaker's secret, we find a beautifully crafted story that deals with love, developing meaningful relationships, family, abandonment, healing, and women's perceived role in society.

This was a book outside of my usual type of reading material, and while it did take me a while to get into because of the classical language phrasing, I did finish it once I got used to it. It was most definitely an enjoyable read! Four stars because it is a well written book, even if on a personal level, it took a little bit to get used to!

Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Vernal and team, for generously providing me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A time-travel story when a woman steps into another life. It is a great story of love and family. Be sure to read the second book of the story.

he Dressmaker's Secret is the first book in the Brides of Bold Street. This is also my first read of a historical time slip book by the author. The others I read were contemporary fiction. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this type of book by the author just as much as I had the others.
The book was gripping and so hard to put down. I enjoyed the historical section as much as I did the modern time period. The book is full of nostalgia and so heartwarming. I could fully picture the long-ago time I was reading about with a bit of intriguing suspense thrown in. I enjoyed this read very much!

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

This is the first book that I have read by Michelle Vernal. I’ve seen some of her Little Irish Village series mentioned on Twitter but have never gotten around to reading them yet. It was the title and the blurb that drew me to this book, The Dressmaker’s Secret, as it sounded like the type of historical fiction book that I enjoy reading.

The book opens with a brief introduction as a young mother wheels her daughter down Bold Street. The mother closes her eyes for a minute as she felt she was having a turn. When she opens them her daughter has vanished from her pushchair and despite every effort to find her she seems to have disappeared without a trace. A mystery it seems has just occurred and it will take many twists and turns and journeys through time to solve it.

Part one takes us to Liverpool in 1981 where Sabrina and Evelyn, whom she calls her Aunt Evie, work in their shop Brides of Bold Street where they create the dresses of every brides dream. I adored the descriptions of the shop and all the wonderful fabrics and creative tools that it contained and in fact I wanted more of this but I soon came to realise that despite the potential for storylines that the shop presented that this was a different book.

Evelyn and Sabrina make a good team and Sabrina is always so grateful to her for taking her in when she found her lost on Bold Street as a three year old. Still despite having a loving home, it eats away at Sabrina that she doesn’t know who her real mother was and why she has she never come looking for her. She has long wanted to find her mother and discover her reasoning for abandoning her. Was she unlovable? Sabrina wants to make her own dreams of meeting a man, falling in love, getting married and having children become a reality but she feels this can only occur if she can find and fix herself first and locating her mother will do that for her. She believes that nobody should be expected to love her when she wasn’t even sure if her own mother had.

Flo, Sabrina’s best friend, will always back her in anything she chooses to do and I thought the two had a great friendship. Typical young women who love fashion and going to the pub and trying out the dating scene. I forgot this section was set in the 1980’s and to be honest it felt a bit weird to think of the 80’s as a period in history but that’s what it is as it’s forty years ago yet it feels like yesterday in so many respects. A chance encounter with motorbike enthusiast Adam and his friends sets the cat amongst the pigeons for Sabrina. She feels a connection to him but god she was so frustrating in that she was hell bent on finding the answers to her questions and only then would she let love in. Adam was there perfect ready and waiting and he told a story that was intriguing and for me at first a bit unbelievable but as I came to understand and appreciate what way this story was going I found myself tossing aside my incredulity and just sitting back and taking in everything that was occurring.

Part two was the best part of the book. I adored it and felt as if I was back on familiar territory in terms of historical fiction. The reader is taken back to Liverpool in 1928 and Jane Evans has just started work as a housemaid for Magnolia Muldoon who is a widow with a son named Sidney. Magnolia still believes she has the trappings of wealth that her husband’s antiques business had once afforded her and she has the attitude to match. But the number of servants has been drastically reduced and rooms closed off and she now a widow with Sidney left to run the business to the best of his ability. So now it is just Mrs. Brown the cook and Jane who longs to be back in working in the cotton factory in Wigan where she lived a far different life with her family. But times are desperate for them and the money Jane earns needs to be sent home so her family can survive. I loved Jane’s insight into what was a whole new world for her and especially when Sidney returns from travelling where he as searching for antiques for the business. Things did a u-turn then and again I did think would this really have happened in real life at the time given societal constraints but then again when the heart says one thing the majority of the time you do have to follow it.

Jane was like a fish out of water in terms of where she found herself and what begins to unfold but at the same time she does know what she wants in life and would love nothing better than for her family to rise from the poverty they find themselves in. Sidney as a character surprised me as well in that he also didn’t conform to the rules of society and he was independent and a free thinker willing to go against what his mother expected of him. A surprise visitor didn’t seem to throw Jane and I thought she was very accepting in what she was told. I have my suspicions as to why this visitor arrived and I could see links between the 1920’s time period and the 1980’s emerging but I could be way off in my guesses but I like to think that I may turn out to be correct.

There was a huge surprise at the end of part one, in that this was a time slip story with an element of fantasy. Being 100% honest I don’t think I would have read this book if I had known it was in it because time slip/fantasy books would not be my thing at all. I need to see concrete and tangible evidence of something or a solid explanation for something occurring needs to be present. I wasn’t sure was I going to get that here. I feel the blurb is misleading in a way. Yes, it says the rails of petticoats, veils and skirts hide a secret but that could have been anything and not what it turned out to be. I think a lot of readers will be expecting what I thought the book would be about and they will either love it or find it a bit farcical.

I’m split between the two points of view and given the way the book ended and the fact the there are many burning questions that still need to be answered I think I will definitely give book two, The Dressmaker’s Past a go. It also makes sense now why book two is published more or less coinciding with book one as people will want answers and also when I looked up a bit about the books I saw that they had first been published back in 2020 with a different cover and title. The new title and cover are much better and a wider audience will get to try out the story. Overall, The Dressmaker’s Secret was a good read with part two being the strongest as I have said but I think I was thrown that it was so vastly different from what I had been expecting and it took me time to settle in to it. That said, I am eager to find out what is next in store for Sabrina as the author certainly left the reader with a dramatic cliff hanger ending.

This cozy book with a magical twist is set in a bridal shop on Bold Street. Michelle Vernal writes cozy stories set in villages and this time the village is a street with a magical secret, a time slip. Sabrina was found wandering the street searching for her mother at 3 years old. She was taken in and raised by Evelyn, the dressmaker and owner of Brides of Bold Street. As happy as she is with her life, Sabrina has always wondered about how she got to Bold Street. She wants to move forward with her life but the past is holding her back. When she learns about the time slip she hopes it will help her find answers. When she travels from 1981 to 1928 she discovers a different world. Will she discover the answers she seeks and find a way back to her life? I enjoyed this book about found family and love.The time slip was an unexpected but enjoyable part of the story. The characters were endearing and I wanted Sabrina to find the answers she needed so she could move forward in her life. This is the first book in series and I am looking forward to the next one. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy cozy stories of family and life and love.

I really liked this time travel historical book. The story was very well written and easy to read, I loved the main character of this story.

The Dressmaker's Secret was, for the most part, an enjoyable story. I like that the first part of the book is set in the 1980s. We are introduced to Sabrina, who has been brought up by Evelyn, a dressmaker who found Sabrina lost and in tears when she was just a little girl.

The second part of the book is set in 1928. Sabrina plays a large part but the story is written from the point of view of Jane who Sabrina ends up working with. Jane's story is a lovely romance. It was almost like reading two different books, but they were cleverly joined together by Jane and Sabrina's friendship.

The only thing that prevented the book from being perfect was the confusion regarding how the time slip works. There is no rhyme nor reason behind how, when and why the time slip happens. I know the author has chosen to make it a mystery for Sabrina not to easily go through time. I would just prefer it if we, the readers, knew where the portal is, even if the characters in the story don't!

Other than that I enjoyed Sabrina and Jane's stories. There was drama, romance, mystery and, of course, Sabrina's quest to find her mother. I look forward to the next book in the series and hope to finally get my questions answered about the time slip portal.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Dressmaker's Secret as I had no idea it was a timeslip story. I do love a time travel trope!
The pull of a mystery had me intrigued right from the prologue when a woman loses her 3 year old daughter.

Eighteen years later it's 1981 and Sabrina is living with Evelyn who had found her outside her bridalwear shop and had brought her up as her own.
The story follows Sabrina and best friend Florence as they go about their daily lives. When Sabrina meets Adam she realises she still has unresolved abandonment issues and needs to find out why her mother left her before she can have a meaningful relationship.

The story moves to 1928 when Sabrina moves through a timeslip. The 1928 timeline is narrated through Jane's point of view. Jane is a young housemaid in the manor where Sabrina finds a job. The more outspoken Sabrina helps Jane with her fledgling romance.
Vernal compares the everyday life and societal expectations of young women in each era.

The Dressmaker’s Secret is a light, easy and enjoyable read. I read it in a day! Filled with likeable and engaging characters with an intriguing mystery at the centre of the story. This is the first book in a series so the key plotline is left unresolved.

THE DRESSMAKER’S SECRET (Brides of Bold Street Book #1) by Michelle Vernal is a moving historical fiction/time travel romance with a wonderful young female protagonist who discovers her ability to time slip but does not know how to control it or why she has the ability. This is the first book in a new series, and I cannot wait to get into the next.

Sabrina Flooks was lost at the age of three while on a walk with her mother in 1962. She was found, raised and then trained by the talented bridal gown maker who she calls her aunt, Evelyn Flooks. She has a home she loves with her aunt above their bridal shop, but she still has a longing for the truth about her mother and her past.

When Sabrina catches the eye of the handsome Adam Taylor, she wants to let her guard down and open her heart, but not until she knows the truth of her past can she overcome her fear of abandonment.

I loved all the characters and timelines in this story and how they all circled around each other. Ms. Vernal clearly wrote different historical periods folding into each other during the overall story and I never felt lost or confused. The mechanism of Sabrina’s time slipping does not appear to be in her control but does appear to only allow her to return to her time in 1981 with her successfully helping of a couple in 1928 find their HEA. While the historical romance plotline is resolved, Sabrina’s plotline search for her past is not and will continue. Just as in her Little Irish Village series, Ms. Vernal masterfully pulled me into the protagonist’s world and set me on an emotional roller coaster throughout this beautifully written story.

I highly recommend this delightful and heart-warming historical fiction/time travel romance!

The Dressmaker's Secret (Brides of Bold Street Book 1) by Michelle Vernal is not your typical historical fiction read. There are historical fiction novels that typically follow the main character - plus others - during a certain period of time. There is also historical fiction that is written with dual timelines with a main character for each timeline that leaves us to discover what the two different main characters - each from a different time in history - have to connect them. With THIS book I was really caught by surprise - and literally said out loud "WOW - I didn't see that coming!" after reading 30% of the book. I don't want to give away any surprises so I won't give a detailed description of the plot. I will say, however. that having been a young mother during the 1980's I found it humorous that life in the 1980's is now considered worthy of becoming "historical fiction". The emphasis on the routine everyday aspects - working, dieting, gossiping, admiring good looking guys - in the lives of 2 females in their twenties in 1981 for the first 30% of the book is why there's a 3 star rating instead of a 4 or 5 stars. Once the "Surprise" in the novel takes place it really became a page turner that kept me reading until the wee hours of the morning to see what would happen next. This is a good book with sweet, kind, caring, charming characters - and a good twist - that is worth reading. I received an ARC from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

I'm reviewing this via NetGalley, as part of a tour with Bookouture.

This is the first book in the Brides of Bold Street series. The first part of the book takes the reader to Liverpool in the 1980s, and I found that was something that came as a surprise to me; somehow it wasn't what I expected. I enjoyed reading about that era, and found myself warming to the characters, and the bonds of friendship between them.

As I carried on reading, it was another surprise to find that part of the story takes place in the 1920s, but that was something that I could appreciate, as I really like books with a split narrative, and found that I could connect with both eras in different ways.

I found this was quite heartwarming to read, but it also tugged at my heartstrings a little bit too. I would be interested to read the next book in the series if possible.

Thank you to Bookouture, and to the author, for the opportunity to read and review this.

A charming wedding dress shop holds many trade secrets and others of different genres.
Sabrina was taken in by proprietor Evelyn at just three years old.
Sabrina has always wondered about her past and now she may have a chance to uncover the truth.
Set among fabric and thread of the wedding Industry the book is also about the fabric and thread of lives and how they connect and hold things together.

Totally enjoyable! I loved the characters, each of whom was totally believable and well developed. Sabrina, the main character, was a person I would enjoy spending real time with. A lot of the story centers around the bridal shop that her Aunt Evie owns and Sabrina works in. It's not really possible to give an overview of this novel without giving away the secrets it holds, but if you enjoy historical fiction through different time periods, great friendships formed between young women, against the odds romances and a bit of time travel without it being science fiction, then this is the novel for you! I can't recommend it highly enough. It will keep you up reading when you should go to sleep.

Sabrina was abandoned by her mother when she was a young girl. Evelyn took her in, raised her, and trained her. Evelyn was a talented dress maker and her historical bridal shop was all Sabrina knew.

Evelyn has trained Sabrina to make the most beautiful wedding dresses and Sabrina has found her value in her work. But, when she meets Adam Taylor she allows him into her heart. With her new found love Sabrina decides that she must dig through her past and find out why her mother had abandoned her all those years ago.

The Dressmaker’s Secret, written by author Michelle Vernal, is a wonderful story of family and new found love. I really enjoyed this time slip story of Sabrina and wanting to make peace with her past in order to find peace in her future.

I loved how Evelyn took in Sabrina and gave her a life that she wouldn’t normally have had. Vernal does an amazing job at pulling the reader into the story and not letting them go until the end. This heart-warming story is one that I definitely recommend.

A three year old girl Sabrina left alone on the street has found a home with a dressmaker. Now she’s twenty one and looking for her mother. Can she be from another time, she has to know before she can build her future with the man she loves.
This is such a fun story with some surprises and great characters. It’s the first book in this series but luckily the release date is the same. I can’t wait to enjoy the rest of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher to read this story, this review is my own opinion.

This is a gripping read. I adore historical fiction and the author has created a fabulous character that I just know I am going to love.

Heartfelt and emotional but warm and tender Sabrinas story is sad but intriguing.

I loved the setting of the bridal shop, and Sabrina's life is under the guiding hand of Evelyn the owner.

I loved this book and cannot wait for the next..

Sabrina works with her Aunt Evelyn at a bridal shop making dresses for brides' special days. Evelyn found her wandering the streets when she was a 3-year-old, separated from her mom. When she meets Adam, she becomes more determined to discover what happened with her mom and why she was separated from her.

This is the first in a series, and I enjoyed it. It does involve time travel, so it's more of a historical fantasy. It starts in the 1980s, and she travels back in time. I enjoyed the characters, especially Sabrina, and I'm looking forward to her finding her answers. Since it's a series, it might take a while. I did enjoy the time travel story, and the ending is a bit abrupt, which is understandable because it's a series. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

Thanks to @bookouture, @netgalley, and the author for this arc.